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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stem · bear · patient · wound · march · rest · foot · shower

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. foot — a measure
  4. shower — to wash
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. stem — to come from
  10. bear — the animal
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. march — the month
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bear — the animal
  16. wound — an injury
  17. rest — what's left
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. shower — rain
  21. march — the month
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. march — music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com